near Avebury Manor

near Avebury Manor

walking through a crop circle

as it starts to rain 

Last night we went to the Crop Circle Gallery just south of the train tracks to watch a documentary: "Thrive: What on Earth Will It Take?" Part of the sleuthing producer Forest Gamble takes us on includes crop circles. We are sitting in a small room surrounded by photographs of the beautiful graphics that appear in crops all over the world, especially in England. While we wait for the video to play, I scan the aerial photographs, arranged by year, until my eyes come to rest on one that appeared near Avebury Manor in July 2008. It's actually two circles, created about a week apart, that appear to depict our solar system and another planet. And then I remember; I was there.
          We have just finished walking around the amazing Avebury ring, the oldest stone ring known to be in existence anywhere in the world. Created between 2600 and 2500 BC, it is older than Stonehenge. As we are driving away, I spot some people out in the middle of a wheat field and I immediately think it must be a crop circle. Sure enough, when we join the people in one of the flattened areas, we see circles and lines running off in all directions. The circle is so huge that it's hard to figure out what the design is from ground level. The area feels charged with energy, yet serene at the same time. I want to sit on the carefully laid-down wheat and meditate, but It's starting to rain and we have miles to go to our next stop. Reluctantly, I leave the magic space, carrying with me the memory of my first and only experience of a crop circle.
          As we drive away, I ponder the conjunction of the ancient stone circle and the out-of-this-world crop circle, both created by who knows who, and I wonder, what on Earth will it take for us to fathom these mysteries?